2. speakers
  3. 176877-166623

everything sounded great until the upgrade

In short: I loved the sound of my modest system, until I upgraded my amp. Now it  sounds pretty horrible. It went from a warm sweet embracing easy-to-listen sound to knives and forks trying to escape from a bathtub.

So...

1. I can just unplug this new amp (used) and sell it

Any other options? I could upgrade my speakers but I have no budget for that.

2. I could sell the speakers and use money to buy used ones that go with the amp. 

3. Lastly I could change the source, but was it the culprit - to begin with?

btw - the sound of the "new" amp is decent with my turntable, and terrible with my CD player.

(If I wrote brands and models it would throw the discussion into "A sucks, B is great")

grislybutter
grislybutter OP
2,865 posts
 

@ghdprentice 

yes, I am going to buy it, it can't hurt. Worst case is that I will not get it....

But.... I am in it for the fun, and not to climb mountains up in the clouds with zero visibility :)

grislybutter OP
2,865 posts
 

@theo714 

but also limited me in what I can listen to

that's a hill I don't know how to climb. I need a compromise (system that makes what I like sound good. Maybe there should be a software that re-samples to music we like to our taste :)

ghdprentice
6,854 posts
 

@grislybutter 

 

😊… you’ll get it. 

thehorn
111 posts
 

grislybutter

just a couple of points of interest,                                                                               

a lot of 70s rock albums were great compositions, but with the exception of a few labels (Eg, 1st pressing Columbia's, some DECA's, Deutsche Grammophon) the actual recordings, and the quality of the vinyl being used by the other labels was crapola. Your A3.2 may be a revealing piece of audio gear, and brutal when exposing sh%$ recordings your 2252B didn't divulge.

As for analog VS digital sources, I have two sets of reference speakers, a pair of 946 Focal Electra's and a pair of Meadowlark Heron hot rod's. To save space, lets just say both the analog & digital sources are snob set-ups with the hat tipping to the analog source. The Meadowlark's sound better on my digital source, and it has a tube pre-amp section. I don't know why, but I'm ascertaining the Meadowlark's were voiced using digital gear. 

In your case (don't take this personally) the A3.2 is pretty well engineered, it may be revealing that your cd player is not of the quality you thought it was.

My last point is ..... some gear just doesn't go with some gear. On top of that, perhaps your ears just don't dig Musical Fidelites sonic signature, and the A3.2 isn't your cup of tea???

I'm just saying.

 

grislybutter OP
2,865 posts
 

@thehorn 

What do you think about the newly printed LPs?

Of course! It's not personal, it's about the #$%@#! sound. 

I have avoided this word all my life, but here it comes: "SYNERGY"!

That's what missing downstream from my system.

 

I have experimented a lot over the weekend and what I am missing with the A3.2 for the warmth, I get back with other aspects - such as details, highs, depth. So it may or may not be my cup of tea if warmth is my preference ,

 

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